Thoughts on Yesterday’s Press Conference

While it was no surprise who would succeed President Hinckley as the President of the Church, I noticed two remarkable statements that major news organizations have been missing:

The Color Yellow

While others, particularly from the more liberal outlets, were lobbing tough questions like the role of education in the lives of women, historical transparency of the Church, etc. Chris Vanocur’s request seemed odd: he wanted President Monson to comment on his favorite color. The prophet’s response:

Yellow is the printer’s color. It’s the color that gives life to all of the other colors. I think it’s interesting that we’d all have nothing but blue grass if it were not for yellow. But also it’s the quickest color to fade. I haven’t figured that one out yet. I’ll see a picture on the wall, and I instantly know whether the yellow is starting to fade from that picture because, all of a sudden, all of the tones of the others aren’t as bright as they should be.

I’ll let you formulate your own gospel tie-ins for that one.

The Universal Church

Some Latter-day Saints may be confused should they hear Protestants confess, in the Apostolic Creed, that they believe in the “the holy catholic church.” Certainly there are Roman Catholics, but in it’s strictest sense, the word catholic means “universal.” It comes from the Greek adjective καθoλικός / katholikos which, pulled apart comes from the preposition κατά / kata, “throughout” or “with respect to,” and ὁλός / holos, “the whole.” What we as Latter-day Saints believe about what constitutes “The Church” may differ from other Christian denominations, but surely we can agree that Jesus meant for his church to be universal. In the New Testament, he only mentioned all nations (Matt. 24:14; 28:19; Luke 24:47). But President Uchtdorf said:

This is not a global church; it is a universal church.

I like this statement for two reasons:

It emphasizes the fact that this is not just a church of like-minded and like-cultured people throughout the nations. The Gospel (with a capital G) appeals to people in all cultures and walks of life, no matter how old they are or where they live.

Jesus Christ is the God of the universe and all worlds, not merely this mortal Earth. He presides over all worlds which have been or will be created. The purpose of this life and church extends beyond the grave and throughout eternity.

I have confidence that the new First Presidency will continue to act as special witnesses of Christ.